Thursday 13th August 2015

The rain stopped at just the right time resulting in a dark humid night with no wind. Seven nets were erected at the pools on the saltings near Shellness and a small catch of waders was successfully carried out. As is normal at Shellness the birds all arrived in a short time span.

The following birds were caught:

Ringed Plover 1 (an adult female)

Dunlin 2 (an adult and a juvenile)

Curlew 6 (plus a retrap, all adults)

Whimbrel 1 (a retrap)

Redshank 1 (a juvenile)

Green Sandpiper 1 (juvenile)

Turnstone 2 (both juveniles)

Total 13 new birds and 2 retraps, a disappointing total given the almost ideal conditions, but an unusual selection of species.

The retrapped Whimbrel is only our second bird of over a year old to be retrapped, this bird was ringed in July 2010, so is just over 5 years between captures. The precious retrap was 7 years 10 months between captures.

The retrapped Curlew was ringed in October 2006, hence the interval between handlings is 8 years and 10 months. The average interval between ringing and retrapping for our Curlews is 5 years and 5 days. This female bird weighed over a kilogram when ringed and now weighs only 815 g, a loss of 25%.